It's amazing how thankful a person can be. Ikuto thought. Or how hard it could get... But you have to go on, forever.

xXx

She was in a black world. But, the black wasn't cold. It was warm and comfortable, as if she had gone back through time and was at the point before birth again. She felt no need to think, just rested. Thoughts crept into her mind, slowly. It were memories, and she drowned herself into them.

Happy moments, sad moments, they all passed before her eyes, and she lived through them all. From her first memories until the moment they moved to Osaka and she went to Seiyo Academy for the first time. The meeting with the guardians, the moment her eggs were born. Ran. Miki, and Su. When they had announced her a guardian, and all the fights they got into with Easter.

Meeting Ikuto for the first time. Actually, that had happened not long after Ran had appeared first, and had made her confess in front of the whole school to Tadase. She had run out totally red, and had literally fallen on Ikuto. She was still clueless why he had chosen to sleep there, of all places, but she was happy he had because it was a funny first encounter. She had to laugh every time she thought about it.

Meeting Utau. She hadn't been exactly friendly, but they had become friends once she had been away from Easter. She had to admit that she had been shocked when she had seen Utau kissing Ikuto. Okay, she had been a bit freaked when she knew they were siblings. But she could understand Utau.

Then came the time when Nadeshiko went away, and Kukai graduated. Rima had come then, together with Kairi. Along the road Dia's egg had appeared too. She remembered that she had been totally freaked out when she had become an x-egg. Eru had ran from Utau, at that time, and they had done some character transformations. She and Utau had fought, and Utau was freed from Easter.

Utau had had to start all over again with her singing career, but she hadn't given up, had kept going and it had brought her back up again. Amu had admired that strength. Utau had once said that it came from her own example, but Amu had found it hard to believe that someone as her could do something like that. But when Rima and all the others said it too, she started to believe that it was possible to change people for the better.

Kairi had left, but not before he had confessed to her. It had made her feel so special. Nagi had come. Fighting Easter had started again, and this time it had been harder on Ikuto. She remembered the time he had been at her home clearly and she had to blush again. The moment had come that her mother had found out, and then when Tadase had come to confess and Ikuto had said some horrible things. She was still ashamed for her shouting that she hated him.

Ikuto in Death Rebel form and the fact that she had been the only one that could break that form. The final fight with Easter, meeting Hikaru. Beating Easter. The fight had been over, and Ikuto had left in search for his father. She remembered the moment at the airport, where he had confessed his love for her, and made that bet that he would make her fall in love with him. Little had he known she had been in love with him already. But she couldn't tell him, for the simple reason she hadn't know it in time.

Every so often her thoughts had gone to that time and she had touched her cheek, there where he had kissed her. There hadn't been any moment when she hadn't thought of him. Places where she had been with him, such as the amusements park he had took her to. She had been there a lot of times now, without him. She wandered around aimlessly, and one way or another she always seemed to end up in the teacup ride. Her family and friends didn't know about her visits at the place.

Utau and Tadase knew it, but they hadn't been there for a long time and just didn't come there anyway.

The time he had been away had been long, and hard. But there were nice memories, as the time he had called her from Paris. Her Junior High years had been nice too.

At some point Tadase had confessed again, but she had rejected him. He had said he had known that she was going to say but still tried anyway. She hadn't had a positive word for all of the other boys that confessed to her through Junior and High School, even though she sometimes doubted herself and her seemingly endless waiting for Ikuto. After the one time from Paris, he hadn't called again. She didn't remember Utau calling him either. She must've done it when she wasn't around. She had thought that she would hate Utau for hiding something like that from her, but she didn't mind after all. It would have made her cry, and that she wouldn't have liked either.

Years had passed and she was at the end of high school. The symptoms had started, and the reason behind them had been discovered and she had been wishing he was there. And he had come.

The times that passed before her eyes were sometimes happy, other times sad. But it was her life, and she accepted all of it, even the bad things and the moments she had thought that would never end. The people in them she loved, or she didn't, it was all the same now. But some of them had left an impression that she could not pass without thinking about what they had met, all together, and cry, or laugh. She repeated their names in her head and their faces appeared in her thoughts. In the warm dark she lay, and she thought that they were worth the return to the cold, painful outside world.

The young man held the hand of his fiancée. She smiled, trying to make him a little more relaxed, but on the inside she was a little bit jealous of the fact that this girl held so much power over her boyfriend-and-soon-to-be-husband. But Lulu wasn't a person to stay jealous and besides, this was a girl she loved also. She was an idol, and she deserved happiness for the music she made, because her music had brought them together. She had been listening to one of her songs when her mobile had fell and suddenly the whole bus had been able to listen with her. She had been scarlet but when she reached to the cell phone to make it shut up another hand had picked it up and when she looked up she had seen a young man with blond hair and ruby eyes.

"I love her music too." he had said and they had become first friend and later lovers. She had found out that he had once loved the idol girl and had known her very closely before he had moved to France. She hadn't mind. He had her now.

She smiled to him once more and he seemed to calm down.

Tadase.

The one thing she did every morning was tying her hair into twin tails with big red bowls. She had done it since Primary School, and she had never changed it. This time, her hair was down and her brown eyes were full of worry. Every so often she would stand up and walk to the window, stare at the phone that kept being silent and sigh.

The green eyed boy pushed his glasses up his nose and looked back to his book, as if he were trying to read but couldn't because the girl wouldn't sit down. That, however, was not the case. Even without the girl he wasn't able to see the words, make out the sentences while they seemed to swim around the paper.

The girl went to sit again. The boy lay the book beside him and took her hand.

"It will be fine, really. You'll see." But even with those words, the tension in the room wasn't eased.

Yaya. Kairi.

It was a strange sight, seeing a grown up man, in his late thirties, crying like a baby on the couch. But for those that lived it the house, it was no strange sight at all. It was more normal than strange. The woman tried to keep it under control, but failed miserably. She was close to crying too.

"Come on, papa, please. You'll make Haruki cry, and he's so alone now Ami is out. Please, be strong." And for once, it worked. Just a bit, but it worked. The man dried his eyes and took the woman in his arm so they were together. They didn't talk or anything, they just sat down. The little baby boy lay beside them.

Mama. Papa. Haruki.

It was supposed to be a friendly game of the two of them while their girlfriends sat on the banks watching and talking. The only problem was that it wasn't. Both of them had feelings that they worked out on each other. It was a hard game, but they felt good playing it. The reddish brown haired boy scored and the purple haired boy cursed and shouted, not meaning any of it. Their girlfriends were sitting, but not talking. One of them had honey blond curly hair and honey eyes while the other had long blonde hair in twin pigtails and purple blue eyes.

Nothing was there that needed a talk, so they sat in silence. They didn't think of breaking it, each with their own thoughts as they watched their boyfriends play.

One thing they had in common, that day. They all though of the same things.

Kukai. Nagihiko. Rima. Utau.

The girl was only twelve, but she sat alone in a park on a swing, rocking forwards and backwards as to calm herself. Sometimes a stray tear escaped and slid down her cheek. Her head was down and her brown hair was down, leaving the curls to dance in the wind.

A boy approached her and sat on the other swing. She nodded when he said hi, but kept her words to herself. He didn't say anything too and they both rocked forwards and backwards, until the girl said something, almost whispering.

"Thanks for coming, Hikaru."

Ami.

It was a scène you could see often in a hospital, but every time you came across it it didn't fail in making you shut up and be silent, almost if you dreaded to speak. It never failed to make you feel sad, too.

A body lay on the bed, a girl, with her head covered in bandages. The machine that kept her heartbeat beeped at almost random times.

There were two boys in the room. One of them was still very young and sat near the window, as if he was trying to hide behind all of the bouquets of flowers that had been brought. He had crimson eyes and very short black hair.

The other boy wasn't so young anymore, almost a grown up. He had dark blue hair and blue eyes. In his one hand he held the hand of the girl laying on the bed. He wasn't really doing anything, and some could say he was talking to the girl, or praying. Soft whispers confirmed the first.

"You know, Amu, there were more flowers than could ever fit into your room, and so Utau said that they should be brought to the chambers of other persons, especially those that are in need of flowers but don't get any. So the nurses did what she said, I mean, who ever goes against Utau? but they thought it was a good idea too. And, you know, I walked through the hospital this morning and I saw all this happy people with those flowers. You don't see it all the time, but she has a soft side, really. But you saw it, didn't you? You have this gift to see those things. It's what makes you so special...and makes it so bloody hard that you are laying here. I really miss you, Amu-chan. So much.." the whispering got cut off when the man started to cry. The boy moved from the window and lay his hand on the shoulder of the man.

Natsu. And... Ikuto. Ikuto. Ah...

She closed her eyes in the darkness and prepared to sink away.

Nothing had changed the past hours. It was almost night, the seventh night that Amu had been in a coma, and Ikuto felt how he became sleepy. He rested his head on his hands, that held one of Amu's cold ones. He was in the land in between sleep and being awake when he felt like her hand was caressing his cheek. He shot up, awake at once, and looked at her face.

Amu's eyes were open. She was awake. She was awake.

At different places people looked up when their phones went off, one after another, and they cried into each other's shoulders from relief.

xXx

*** time skip, general pov, end of august ***

It was a beautiful day, the perfect day for a wedding. All of them had come together once more, even though not all of them lived in the same area anymore.
Rima and Nagi went to study in Tokyo, Rima theater and drama and Nagi dance and basketball. He didn't actually study basketball, but played for the national team and studied when he had time.

Kukai had been in university already, studying something he didn't even know but it was probably something he was good at, beside playing soccer on international level. Utau still sang, but they had putted any release aside until Amu could join again.

Amu was the one that had been the farthest away. She had been in hospital after hospital, trying to get her former strength back. She was back now, finally released.

Her pink hair had grown, but it wasn't nearly as long as it had been when it had fallen out during the chemo therapy. She was frail, like the wind would be able to take her with a strong blow. No that would happen anyway. Ikuto would hold her to the Earth keeping her with him, and he would never ever let her go.

They were at Tadase's wedding. They all liked Lulu, but Utau and Rima would be very happy -secretly, of course- when she and Tadase would go back to France.

They didn't trust her with Amu. It was as if Amu was a little child that needed protection. Amu herself would protest, but her protest would be like little kitten trying to jump on the big dog; futile. She was a kitten in many ways, Ikuto thought when Nagi said that Amu looked like one, and with some smugness he thought: My kitten.

*** Amu's pov ***

I almost cried when they said their 'I do' 's, it's so teary! And so beautiful. Ikuto gave me an handkerchief, he seems to have a lot of them with him lately. Must be because I am so -sorry for the cursing- dammed emotional all the time, and then we smile together as... well, as two people who know a big secret but aren't going to tell anyone yet.

From the corner of my eyes I saw another handkerchief, also meant for me. It was Natsu, of course. I'm really happy -those tears again, this is getting on my nerves- that they can stand each other so well. It had been a problem if that hadn't been that way. Natsu is cured. He was already cured before I met him, but they had kept him in the hospital to be sure. I'm happy they did that because otherwise I wouldn't have met him. He is my lost little brother. Mum and Dad accepted him, but I'll be the one to adopt him. Me and Ikuto. I know his mother agreed, I've seen her and I've spoken to her. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand what drove her to abandon her own son. I'll never do that, ever.

We were outside, waiting for the couple to come out and threw flowers and rice, and the bride threw the bouquet. Yaya caught it, blushing while looking at Kairi.

It didn't go unnoticed, and the biggest rumor at the banquet later was the couples that would be the next to marry. Kukai and Utau were left out, since Kukai had already proposed to her. The bet fell on Rima and Nagi to be the next engaged couple.

***General POV***

That evening, Amu stood in front of her hotel window and looked outside. Ikuto sneaked up to her and surprised her with a big hug.

She squeaked, and he laughed, and life was back to being good.

The End.